Easter Dinner: Coffee-Mustard Glazed Ham

Coffee and mustard may not sound like go-togethers, but tonight's Easter ham. glazed with an apricot, coffee and mustard glaze was a big hit. In fact, I caught both boys licking the spoon after they stirred the glaze. This one was an improv -- I just added ingredients to taste, but it was so good that I know I'll be playing with it again to fine-tune the measurements so I can write a real recipe for it. In the meantime, here's the general recipe if anyone wants to give it a try.

In a small bowl, mix together:

• 3/4 cup of dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup spicy brown mustard
• 1/4 cup apricot preserves, heated till liquid
• 1 tsp ground cloves
• 1 cup espresso

I picked Dean's Beans Ring of Fire for this because I knew the smoky, earthy, spicy notes of Indonesian and Pacific Rim coffees would stand up really nicely to the molasses and mustard -- and they did. You could try a Sumatran or East African coffee as well. 

Score the fat on a pre-cooked ham shank  and baste it with the glaze. Transfer the ham to a cooking rack in a large stock pot or lobster pot. Pour a bottle of ale into the bottom of the pan, but make sure that it stays below the bottom of the ham. As you can see from the photo, I used Samuel Adams Summer Ale -- crisp, light and citrus-y. Cover the pot and cook over low heat for about 20 minutes per pound, or until it reaches an internal temperature of 140 F.  Baste with additional glaze every 15-20 minutes. Refrigerate the glaze between basting.

Let the ham rest for 15-20 minutes before slicing.

With the sugar and molasses, the coffee flavor isn't particularly intense, but it's definitely present. I don't cook ham often, but I'll definitely be experimenting with this one again and playing with the proportion of coffee and molasses to see if I can bring out more of the coffee flavor.